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18 September 2014

worst kept secret

Hello all readers. Charles here, and I have a bit of news to share with everyone.

For the past 5 years, I've been writing on this site about all sorts of topics: fandom, anime, conventions, reviews, and whatever else I figured I could squeeze into the "mission statement" I posted way back before my first entries here. Back when the site was white and orange, like some horrid digital creamsicle.

Since then, I've tried my best to keep content flowing, through times when I was being prolific, to those dark months where my ennui was so crippling I forgot the password. It's been sporadic, hardly a regular deal for me, but I'm proud that I have at least attempted to keep the site going for 5 years, which is the longest I've stuck with any individual project of mine.

Recently, I've even added new contributors to the site, offering their own insights and open forum to discuss their own passions. Most of them I've met either through here, or via conventions, a stunning example of how fandom can expand your worldview, and enhance your experiences.

That said, I've been mulling over making some changes of late. I created this site in October 2009, almost on a lark. I wanted a blog to center my research around, and tried a few different names before StudyofAnime cleared the filter. Back then, that's what I wanted this site to be- a place for rumination and explorations on anime and anime fandom. I wanted to post research from my thesis, and extrapolate on end ideas from those early panels. I was so excited to tell people I had made the site, and made all these wild promises about panel notes and constant updates.

Look at my archive for 2009. Mostly con reviews and weird content I had written down at many of the cons I had gone to that year. Even after I had evolved as a person and a fan, I still kept to those early formats, and early insistences about what I wanted this site to be. And in hindsight, I really shouldn't have. Five years in, and I love what this site has given me, but not what I give back in return.

So here's the deal (damn you, Patrick, for adding that to my lexicon): I want to revamp everything. Starting in October, mission statement be damned, I will be using this site as the host for my 4th annual Horror Film Festival. Furthermore, I plan to expand what I write about to be more than just anime or Japanese culture. I want this site to be a reflection of who I am, not who I want other people to see me as. It is passion that drives the fan, and it just so happens that my passions are all over the place. So why try to constrain them into a single topic.

That does not mean StudyofAnime is going away. While I have a new domain in the works, this site will still function as it always has. I've been really happy with the content Kit has been posting. I'm also trying to get Sid to write more, and as always, I extend the offer to anyone who wants to contribute to send things my way. I want this to be more than a "private" blog.

Now I realize for most of you, this really is the worst kept secret. I've been hinting at it for a long time. But I feel the time is right for it to be formally announced. New things are on my own horizon, and a new site is only fitting for it.

Thanks for reading StudyofAnime, thanks for saying hi at cons, and thanks for being passionate fans.

(And also, thanks for your patience. I know some of my writing has been slow, but we are still chugging away.)

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